


The Named

by doctorsquared



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Assassination, Brainwashing, Bucky Barnes & Steve Rogers Friendship, Bucky Barnes & Tony Stark Friendship, Bucky Barnes Has Issues, Bucky Barnes Needs a Hug, Bucky Barnes Recovering, Bucky Barnes Remembers, Canon-Typical Violence, Captain America: Civil War (Movie) Spoilers, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Civil War Fix-It, Experimental Style, Fluff and Angst, Gen, HYDRA Brainwashing, I like tags can you tell?, Mild Blood, Not Captain America: Civil War (Movie) Compliant, POV Bucky Barnes, POV Steve Rogers, Protective Bucky Barnes, Protective Tony Stark, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Winter Soldier Bucky Barnes, Wordcount: Over 1.000, sorta - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-23
Updated: 2016-06-23
Packaged: 2018-07-16 18:20:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,772
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7278754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/doctorsquared/pseuds/doctorsquared
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Every time they wake the Asset, he remembers a name (and a face, but the two don't match)."<br/>AU where the Winter Soldier knows Tony Stark long before he knows his own name.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Named

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own anything you recognize. No copyright infringement is intended, ever. And most of the Winter Soldier’s targets don’t actually exist in real life, or in the MCU ‘verse. Most. Hehehe. Arthur Owens is fake. At least, I hope he is.
> 
> This fic is kind of gappy and all over the place because Bucky's mind is pretty messed up right now. So, the italicized parts are the Winter Soldier programming. The parenthesized italicized parts are the Winter Soldier being a little more self-aware, a little bit of Bucky peeking through. Parenthesized parts are Bucky beginning to rebel against his programming, just a little.

* * *

  

 

_Soldat?_

_Ready to comply._

            Every time they wake the Asset, he is shown a face, a name, he is given a mission. That is all he remembers until he is wiped clean to be used again.

_Ready to comply._

            Events he forgets, but familiar faces, names, are harder. The Asset’s new handlers don’t follow every rule, every step correctly. The slight differences are loopholes, they let the memories form. The Face. He sometimes remembers him, a blur of blue-red-white-blonde, sometimes not. The Asset has never seen the Face and he is not a mission, so he represses. Irrelevant.

_Ready to comply._

_Mission: Arthur Owens, diplomat_

_Eliminate._

_Leave no evidence._

_Do not be seen._

            The Soldier is dispatched to the Stark Expo. His mission is smoking alone behind the bathrooms when the Soldier finds him. Arthur Owens is severely allergic to bee stings. A dart tipped with apitoxin and a planted bee carcass with a fallen nest nearby are all that’s required. The Soldier disappears again into the crowd. He is seen.

            A child looks up at him with sharp, brown eyes.

            “You look like the guy in the movies Dad watches.”

_Mission Parameters: Insufficient_

_[Eliminate. Leave no evidence._

_Do not be seen.]_

He has been seen.

            The Soldier attempts to recall former protocols for discovery and fails. His handlers did not deem that information necessary to remember, as the Soldier does not fail.

            “Are you lost? I’m not. Lost. I’m smart. Mom says so. I just need to find a map. You could help if you want.”

            The boy takes the Soldier’s hand. The Soldier has no further orders. Eliminate. Leave no evidence. Do not be seen. He has been taken.

_Status: Compromised_

_Possible Solution: Eliminate witness?_

_Result: More witnesses, collateral_

_Solution: Not viable._

            “You don’t talk much. My dad says I talk too much. He’d like you. My name’s Anthony Stark. I like Tony better, though. You can call me Tony, if you want.” A face. A name. Not a mission.

            A cry, edging on panic, rises above the babble and hum of the crowd. The child stops. Anthony Stark tugs his hand. The Soldier needs to return before he is seen again.

            “That’s my mom! Come on! Maybe she can help you, too!”

            The Soldier slips free his left hand from the child’s and steps back, blending in, following the flow of the crowd to the perimeter, to vanish into the dark again. He sees a woman with blonde hair pick up the boy as he looks back. The Soldier is missing his left glove. The Soldier reports.

_Mission: Arthur Owens, diplomat_

_Status: Complete_

            Every time they wake the Asset, he remembers a name (and a face, but the two don’t match). This is a malfunction, but he does not report. The Asset’s handlers did not wipe the Name or the Face. An asset does not question its handlers.

_Mission: B______W_______, religious leader_

_Status: Complete_

_Mission: _________, ex-SSR agent_

_Status: Complete_

_Mission: ________J____, mercenary_

_Status: Complete_

_Mission: ___n______d_, politician_

_Status: Complete_

_Mission: ____________k, engineer_

_Status: Complete_

_Mission: ______________, scientist_

_Status: Complete_

            After each mission, The Soldier finds the Named, despite the fact that he is not his mission. It is a malfunction The Asset’s handlers do not correct. The Named removes the pain in his arm. He gives the Soldier food. He shows the Soldier what he’s made. It feels familiar. Feels old like the Face in his memory. A faded smudge. The Asset does not remember this. He only keeps the Name.

 

_Mission: Captain America, S.H.I.E.L.D. operative_

_(he finds the Face – he is his mission – he remembers another Name)_

_Status: Incomplete (Failed: Malfunction)_

           

 

            He runs. The Soldier is caught. The Asset is corrected. (But never fixed.)

_Ready to comply._

            He receives a new mission. It is the Named. For once at the onset, he does not want to complete the mission. The Asset is malfunctioning. The Soldier does not report it, but he goes to New York.

            The Soldier bypasses Avengers Tower’s security. It seems slightly easier than it should. The Soldier is on guard. The Named is smart.

_Mission: Anthony E. Stark, engineer_

_Eliminate. Violent execution._

_Do not be caught._

_Status:…_

            The Soldier silently unsheathes his knife behind his target. He raises the blade to neck level. The target tilts its head. It remains distracted with its work. It –

            “Oh, hey. Trouble with the arm?” The Named asks, tapping at a flat, electronic device.

            The Soldier speaks. _(malfunction)_

            “You’re my mission.”

            The target swivels around in its chair, looking up at him, fixing its sharp brown eyes on the Soldier. It is unafraid.

            “Oh. HYDRA get sick of me already?”

            He swallows.

            “I know you.” _Malfunction._

            “Yeah,” the target sighs. “Mind-wiped again?”

            “Irrelevant.”

            The target just sits still, pinning him with his stare. The Soldier tightens his fingers around his knife. And raises it to the Named’s bared throat. The Soldier sees something he’s never seen before in a target’s eyes. The target must be malfunctioning, too. He should fear death. They all do.

_Status:…_

            The Soldier presses the metallic sharp edge to fragile skin and his fingers spasm against the hilt. The target merely breathes, “You don’t have to.”

_(I don’t want to.)_

            “The Asset isn’t supposed to have preferences.

            …I’m malfunctioning.”

            The Soldier’s arm falls of its own accord, tiny beads of blood drop to the workshop floor.

_…malfunctioning…_

            “I know, bud. Your name is Bucky Barnes.

_(A Name?)_

            Captain America is your best friend, Steve Rogers.

(The Face.)

            “We met at Stark Expo 1974.

_(A Mission.)_

            “My name is Anthony Edward Stark.

(The Name.)

            “The date is – crapIhavenoidea. JARVIS?”

_(Time?)_

            Irrelevant. The Soldier’s arm rises, positioning the blade to sever The Mission’s carotid arteries. The knife starts to reinsert into the bloody scratch on his neck..

            “Acceptance. Shining. Fourteen. Nightfall. Freezer. Zero. Malign. Running. Two. Helicarrier,” the Mission rattles off.

             …the bloody scratch on…Tony’s neck. He stills the blade.

_Status:…_

            “Bucky?”

_…Failed._

            Bucky blinks. Steps back, removing the weapon. Gives a sharp shake of his head, lowers it, then raises it again and quirks a lip. Mouths, _Tony._  

            “It worked.”

            “Well, duh. My B.A.R.F. is awesome.” The genius’ face screws up in disgust. “Really need a new acronym…”

            “I’m still gonna kill you, though.”

            Tony gets up and skirts around Bucky and the blood-smeared blade he has jabbed in his general direction.

            “Ugh, do you have to?” the billionaire complains, walking towards the door of his lab. “I’m busy today.” A beat. He spins on his heel to face the man threatening him from back in the middle of the floor. “On second thought, that might actually be preferable to meeting with the board.” Tony slips out the door and disappears down the hall. Bucky growls, stalking after him. He catches up to him at the elevator and shoves him inside where no one can hear him swear at the idiot.

…

            “You idiot!” he shouts, dogging Tony out of the elevator onto the common floor of Avengers Tower. “We had a contingency plan for this!”

            “And here we go.”

            “Your robot butler is supposed to shock me unconscious with the dumb subthingy – ”

            “Routine.”

            “ - or _whatever_ if I show even a hint of malicious intent! What happened to that?”

            “Maybe you weren’t hinting enough.” Tony quips, rounding the kitchen island, casually walking backwards, aiming for the coffeemaker.

            Bucky gives him a look. “You said the new trigger words were a last resort.”

            He caves, throwing up his hands, turning around to open a cupboard. “Okay! Okay! So I haven’t electrified the vents yet – blame Birdbrain, he’s always skulking around in there and I didn’t have time. I have a company, you know. But that’s beside the point because you, mister, don’t have a leg to stand on. I _told_ you to stay here where it’s _safe_ , let everything blow over, but no!” here he clunks down a coffee mug, “You left and got your stubborn butt captured again! Not to mention Cap’s been on a wild goose chase looking for you because you wouldn’t let me tell him!”

            “Safe? If I’m here, _no one_ is safe and you know it!” Bucky leans into Tony’s personal space, still clenching the knife, but aiming it away from them both. “I almost slit your throat. I drew _blood_ ,” he grits out. “I could’ve killed you and you would’ve let me! That’s why Steve can’t find me. He would’ve – _has_ – done the same thing. You’re both – ” he points the blade tip at Tony’s eye, “MORONS!”

            Tony stubbornly lifts his chin. “Too bad. You’re stuck here. I’m officially placing you under house arrest until further notice. JARVIS?”

 _“Right away, Sir.”_  The bodiless robot butler sounded dang pleased with itself.

            Tony leans toward Bucky until they are practically nose-to-nose. “You had your chance, Barnes. You got caught, you lost the bet.” Then, the infuriating man barges past him, sloshing some of his cold coffee onto the Winter Soldier uniform. Still trying to control himself in the kitchen, Bucky hears the genius plop down onto the family room couch in finality. He runs a hand down his face and swears sotto voce. Promptly stomping over to the family room, Bucky slumps onto the couch and steals the coffee and remote right from under Tony Stark’s nose. He does not take it well.

 

 

            Natasha, Sam, and Steve return to the Tower two hours later, at six in the morning, bedraggled, wet, exhausted, and sore.

            “I could sleep for a week,” Sam grumbles.

            Steve nods in agreement while Natasha walks toward the family room to shut off the murmuring T.V.

            Both men hear a whispered, Russian curse as they start to head for their bedrooms.

            “Natasha?” Steve quietly calls back, concerned.

            He starts to walk toward the couch before she stops him mid-step.

            “ _Don’t_ react. Swear, Rogers,” she hisses.

            “You reacted,” Sam points out.

            Black Widow glares at him and he shrugs.

            “What’s wrong?”

            She gives Steve a final stern glance and leads him silently to the couch. He stops breathing.

            The T.V.’s playing a game show at half volume, glowing on two figures, clearly asleep. Tony’s sitting upright with his head tilted back and he’s got a rumpled mop of brown hair against his thigh, his fingers tangled in it. The blueish light of the television glints softly off of a familiar metal arm attached to the dark-uniformed body curled up next to the genius. There’s a knife stabbed into the wall next to the T.V.

            “Bucky’s back,” Natasha Romanoff whispers.

            Steve smiles for the first time in a long while.

**Author's Note:**

> Tony used B.A.R.F. to implant countermeasures against the Faustus Method brainwashing. Ta-da!  
> A note about my take on the Winter Soldier's thought process: Due to the mindwiping, people are easier to remember than missions in their entirety. That’s why the mission report memories are classified that way. The collateral death is hard to distinguish from actual kill missions. Also, due to the mindwiping/brainwashing, the narrator is a tad unreliable, leaving out things. Maybe I’ll do a Tony POV counterpart with more details in the future…
> 
> In case anyone was wondering about the anti-trigger words, I basically chose antonyms. Longing becomes Acceptance, etc. And Tony does say them in English, FYI.  
> Longing (Acceptance). Rusted (Shining). Seventeen (Fourteen). Daybreak (Nightfall). Furnace (Freezer). Nine (Zero). Benign (Malign). Homecoming (Running). One (Two). Freight car (Helicarrier). Soldier (Bucky)?  
> The numbers I chose are 2014 backwards because the original numerical trigger words are 1917 backwards. 1917 = the year Bucky was born and the Communist Revolution in Russia. 2014 = the year Bucky remembers who he is (the death of the Winter Soldier or Bucky's rebirth, if you will) and the Fall of HYDRA/S.H.I.E.L.D.


End file.
